This patent-pending cover is hand-constructed in beautiful hemp fabric chosen for its many fine properties. Most important is hemps ability to block uv-light, which are harmful to the anaerobic fermentation microbes. A decorative, cotton, farm-market theme top-band houses a draw-string for ease-of-use!

Hemp is a time-honoured fabric, used from times of antiquity until present -

Sustainable fiber used in China for 12,000 years

Europe's first paper mill used hemp paper, continuing for 850 years

Used throughout world to create sails and shipping industry ropes (other fibers quickly rotted)

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http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/299/getting-started-pickl-it/
Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:14:53 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2009-12-10:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/543655e38e9c4341892b23e442fc22c2Social Bookmarking
We really appreciate our friends and loyal customers who are enthusiastically spreading the word about Pickl-It. To make it easier to tell others, we have improved the “social sharing / bookmarking” features on the Pickl-It site.]]>
We really appreciate our friends and loyal customers who are enthusiastically spreading the word about Pickl-It. To make it easier to tell others, we have improved the “social sharing/bookmarking” features on the Pickl-It site.

Beginning this week, you will see a way to easily share via Facebook, Twitter, or any other social boookmarking site, at the bottom of every article.

Also, on the right hand side of the site, you’ll find links to easily ‘Like’ us on Facebook, or ‘Follow Us’ on Twitter.

4-Liter – Second-largest Pickl-It, for large-batch lacto-fermentation of sauerkraut, pickling-cukes and popular beverages like water-kefir, coconut-kefir, ginger-beer and the ever-popular “more!” Also handy for brining brisket for saltpeter-free corned beef. May or may not fit most refrigerators. Decant to smaller Pickl-It like the 1-Liter for convenient refrigerated-storage.

5-Liter – Pictured in the photo, loaded with 3-5-inch pickling cukes, this is 1-liter larger than the 4-Liter, perfect for large families or creating favorite large-batches of reliable long-term storage foods such as kraut, pickling-cukes, and kimchi. Also great for brining meat! Will not fit most refrigerators. Decant to smaller Pickl-It like the 1-Liter for convenient refrigerated-storage.

Compared to my modern basement, hers was a tiny room, only 10×15 feet, but within its walls, my grandfather masterfully engineered bins, shelves and counters which held an amazing amount of food. They had no need of grocery stores, but instead, were fed quite well during the long Minnesota winters.

I loved taking deep breaths of her root cellar’s air, as calming to me as ocean air. Years and a few science-journals later, I realized that her root cellar environment was like a cheese cave, its wall, floor and ceiling teaming with beneficial bacteria accumulated from decades of lacto-fermentation.

Even if I’d had the proper cellar, instead of my basement with its wildly-fluctuating temperatures, the cost of accumulating multiple Harsh crocks was formidable.

“Be sure to close the jars very tightly. Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process and the presence of oxygen, once fermentation has begun, will ruin the final product.”

“Fruits and vegetables are first washed and cut up, mixed with salt and herbs or spices and then pounded briefly to release juices. They are then pressed into an air tight container”.

Following their guidance, we searched unsuccessfully for a convenient and inexpensive anaerobic fermenting solution. Just closing a canning-jar tightly, didn’t work for us. We battled mold, off-colors and strange textures.

This search led us to develop *Pickl-It.

The Pick-It wire-bail/airlock system finally allowed us to turn out consistently good flavors, textures and greatly reduce our incidence of mold.

“Feed Me Like You Mean It” Review

A couple months ago, a Pick-It customer commented to Alex Lewin, creator and author of the “Feed Me Like You Mean It” blog, that he should consider including our Pickl-It as part of his Fermenting and Resource List.

When we discovered Pickl-It on his resource list, we followed up offering Alex a Pickl-It to get his candid feedback based on his years of lacto-fermenting advocacy and teaching experience.